The first case of intoxication on record is that of Noah ( Genesis 9:21 ). The sin of drunkenness is frequently and strongly condemned ( Romans 13:13 ; 1 Corinthians 6:9 1 Corinthians 6:10 ; Ephesians 5:18 ; 1 Thessalonians 5:7 1 Thessalonians 5:8 ). The sin of drinking to excess seems to have been not uncommon among the Israelites.
The word is used figuratively, when men are spoken of as being drunk with sorrow, and with the wine of God's wrath ( Isaiah 63:6 ; Jeremiah 51:57 ; Ezekiel 23:33 ). To "add drunkenness to thirst" ( Deuteronomy 29:19 , A.V.) is a proverbial expression, rendered in the Revised Version "to destroy the moist with the dry", i.e., the well-watered equally with the dry land, meaning that the effect of such walking in the imagination of their own hearts would be to destroy one and all.